U.S. and Canada Reach Deal to Revamp NAFTA - Do You Support the New Deal?

The United States and Canada announced Sunday night that the two countries had agreed to enter into — along with Mexico — a revamped North American free trade deal just as a midnight deadline approached.

The details: The new deal will be called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and, per the AP, provides easier access for the U.S. to the Canadian dairy market but also keeps in place key trade safeguards from NAFTA that Canada wanted to remain.

"Late last night, our deadline, we reached a wonderful new Trade Deal with Canada, to be added into the deal already reached with Mexico. The new name will be The United States Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA. It is a great deal for all three countries, solves the many deficiencies and mistakes in NAFTA, greatly opens markets to our Farmers and Manufacturers, reduces Trade Barriers to the U.S. and will bring all three Great Nations together in competition with the rest of the world. The USMCA is a historic transaction!

Congratulations to Mexico and Canada!"

A joint statement from United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland:

"Today, Canada and the United States reached an agreement, alongside Mexico, on a new, modernized trade agreement for the 21st Century: the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). USMCA will give our workers, farmers, ranchers and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in our region. It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people who call North America home.

We look forward to further deepening our close economic ties when this new agreement enters into force."

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How can we approve when we have not gotten the text of the agreement to investigate? I personally don’t trust this administration at all. Since Canada and Mexico seem to have agreed there must be something in it but until I can read it myself I will remain skeptical.

I support the new USMCA, however it appears to be merely a somewhat improved NAFTA in a different wrapper. What I find appalling is the callow approach taken in order to arrive at substantially an already existing & working agreement; simply to satisfy an insatiable ego and fatuously proclaim that a ‘campaign promise was met’.
NAFTA was gratuitously dismantled and inexpertly reconstituted after a too-long delay into USMCA. During the interim, commerce & trade were disrupted resulting in lost revenue and mutual trust. Both of those things will have long-lasting detrimental impact on US companies and future diplomacy. The few improvements found within the new agreement could have been renegotiated within NAFTA without incurring the loss and associated grief.
All in all, incompetent leadership and inferior business strategy & tactics.

We got minor tweaks on the Mexican side with the % of parts made in the US cars. The only thing I've heard about the Canada side was a 0.35% increased access to Canadian dairy making up a whopping 0.06% of the trade between the US and Canada. Is there more? Or did we just spend political capital renaming it and calling it a victory?

So I agreed with the Mexico-US agreement which raised Mexican minimum wages in the car industry to a livable wage in Mexico which would also deter US car manufactures to move to Mexico which historically had lower wages. I also agree with the US in keeping the metals tariffs placed onto Canada to deter the Canadian market from thwarting any additional maneuvering in other sectors. I’m glad we are getting more access to the dairy market in Canada, but I caution farmers and dairy providers it is not a high level increase. NAFTA needed a revamp and I am glad that Canada has finally agreed to some sort of arrangement to better all the lives of those who live in the Northern most countries of North America.

I don’t know the details of the trade deal but don’t like the new name of USMCA. It is another attempt of Trump’s to change very little but to list countries in order. Whatever he does he has to belittle the other participants. I will continue to call it NAFTA. America will pay at some point in the future for Trump’s nasty treatment of our allies. History proves we will not remain the most powerful nation forever.

I cannot support or oppose something for which the details have not been fully released to the public. Rebranding NAFTA in name only does not a win for the people make. It has proven one thing - again - this president is more interested in optics than substance. He declared victory with North Korea too - and after almost four months after that victory speech, not only are the details non-existent, last time I checked, Kim has not taken one measurable step to rid his regime of nukes.